22 October 2013

BARCELONA: After more than 30 years into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a vaccine remains elusive—and much needed. Globally, about 35 million people are living with HIV, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS. In the United States, about 1.1 million people are HIV positive, and
nearly 50,000 people contract the virus each year—with African Americans
and Latinos disproportionately affected. Men who have sex with men—especially those of color—have among the highest infection rates across the globe.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 was the first public presentation of the research by
Oregon Health and Science University's Louis J. Picker, MD, originally published
in the journal Nature. Picker's study demonstrated that vaccinated
monkeys can clear simian immunodeficiency virus—SIV, the monkey
equivalent of HIV—from their bodies. Picker's research team used an
aggressive strain of the simian virus, called SIVmac239 and described as
"up to 100 times more deadly than HIV." The vaccine was effective in nine of the 16 monkeys in the study.

Picker's research team fused SIV genes to the cytomegalovirus (CMV),
which is from the herpes virus family. The immune system responded to
the infection by doing what it normally does—releasing new white blood
cells called CD8 "hunter-killer cells" that kill cells infected with
SIV. These CD8s are normally primed to target the virus, but in this
case, according to The New York Times,
they operated in "an atypical state of mid-activation" and persisted in
tissue while "eliminating their targets quietly without triggering
inflammation or even a mild fever."

This new vaccine strategy could be a "breakthrough" because HIV is
"particularly Machiavellian," said Picker. The virus constantly mutates
and hides from the body's immune system—which is why vaccine research
has so far proved largely ineffective.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 Barcelona has been described as the "world's
leading scientific meeting on HIV vaccine research" and was attended by more
than 1,000 leading researchers, funders and policy makers.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 Barcelona and the international media fellowship were sponsored the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise—the international consortium that has pooled resources to "speed the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine."
The Enterprise includes the USA, Thailand and South African
governments, the European Union, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, UNAIDS, World
Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention,
GlaxoSmithKline, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Merck,
Novartis, USAID, Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company in the world
devoted to vaccine development.

17 October 2013

BARCELONA: It's been more than 30 years since the start of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic that has claimed "an estimated 36 million deaths" and Blacks across the African Diaspora have been disproportionately impacted. There is finally some very promising news in HIV vaccine research.

A possible “breakthrough” was presented publicly for the first time at the 13th AIDS Vaccine Conference, which was held in Barcelona, Spain from October 7 to 10. Louis J. Picker, M.D.
associate director of the Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute at
Oregon Health and Science University, presented research that
demonstrated vaccinated monkeys can clear simian immunodeficiency
virus—the monkey equivalent of HIV—from their bodies.

The vaccine was effective in nine of the 16 monkeys in the study. Picker originally published his research last month in the journal Nature.
“This is the first proof of concept that an AIDS-causing virus can be
eliminated by an immune response,” Picker said. The vaccine used cytomegalovirus as a platform. CMV is already found in most humans and belongs to the herpes virus family.

Picker is confident the vaccine could work in humans. "The stars are
aligned and we feel we have a very good shot. [It] also seems to work
for tuberculosis and we need a larger study to prove this.” Picker
estimates it could take “at least two years” to secure funding and
regulatory approval for Phase I clinical trials in humans.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 Barcelona has been described as the "world's
leading scientific meeting on HIV vaccine research" and was attended by more
than 1,000 leading researchers, funders and policy makers.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 Barcelona and my international media fellowship was sponsored the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise—the international consortium that has pooled resources to "speed the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine." The Enterprise includes the USA, Thailand and South African
governments, the European Union, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, World
Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention, GlaxoSmithKline, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Merck, Novartis, USAID, Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company in the world
devoted to vaccine development.

31 January 2011

Undesired side effects much? A man employed with the French defense ministry is suing British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, claiming that taking its Parkinson's drug Requip turned him into a "gay sex and gambling addict," reports AFP.

The 51-year-old man's lawyers say their client's behaviour changed radically after he was first administered the drug in 2003 for the illness, which causes tremors, slows movement and disrupts speech.

Didier Jambart, a married father-of-two who says he has attempted suicide three times, claims he became addicted to Internet gambling, losing the family's savings and stealing to feed his habit. He also became a compulsive gay sex addict and began exposing himself on the Internet and cross-dressing. His risky sexual encounters led to him being raped, his lawyers said.

The behaviour stopped when he stopped taking the drugs in 2005 but by then he had been demoted in his defence ministry job and was suffering from psychological trauma resulting from his addictions, his lawyers said.

The trial begins tomorrow. Jambart is seeking €450,000 or $610,000 in damages from Glaxo.